


If It's Right, You Could Sleep at Night

by Lady_Ganesh



Category: Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alex Fierro is better than you at everything except living and that whole 'relationships' thing, Families of Choice, Other, Post-Canon, Treat, Unconventional Families
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-14
Updated: 2018-02-14
Packaged: 2019-03-09 18:27:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 903
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13487193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_Ganesh/pseuds/Lady_Ganesh
Summary: Alex is unsettled.





	If It's Right, You Could Sleep at Night

**Author's Note:**

  * For [chiiyo86](https://archiveofourown.org/users/chiiyo86/gifts).



> Written from the prompt: _some Alex POV on Magnus would be nice – we know that Magnus is head over heels with Alex, but what about Alex’s side?_

The thing with Magnus Chase was that he was kind of--well, _idiot_ was often how Alex thought of him first, though it wasn't quite fair or accurate. If he didn't know what to say or what to do, he just blundered through it _anyway_ and hoped for the best.

It was dumb and kind of admirable, and Alex never knew if kissing Magnus or punching him in the arm would be the better option. At this point, he'd done both.

For all the blundering, Magnus had given Alex space. Time to figure out...hell, Alex didn't even know what he was trying to figure out. Death had just given him a new set of complications. Including Magnus.

Magnus, who was patient. Who hadn't constantly asked what gender Alex was at any given moment. Who’d been understanding when she cut his head off and who’d talked, in public, about how much she mattered to him and who liked it when Alex kissed him, apparently under any circumstances and whatever gender Alex was that day, and oh damn it, Magnus was _great_ and Alex was kind of an idiot.

A terrified idiot with a kind, patient, gentle boyfriend who wouldn't even be his boyfriend until Alex said he could be.

That was part of the problem, though, wasn't it? Alex had never had a picture-perfect anything, aside from the time he'd had with Abuelito. Magnus hadn't had it easy, but he'd had it easier. A mom who loved him. Who would've stood by him no matter what. ( _She would've liked you,_ Magnus had said three days ago, and Alex had stood there, frozen for a second, not even sure what to do with that information.)

His room was too small. Too confined. He went out into the hallway. Mallory was playing pop music in her room, too loud: _You can't get what you want, 'til you know what you want..._

Yeah, like Alex needed that reminder.

 _Screw this_ , he thought. _I'm going out._

 

**

 

Going out, as he'd half-known it would, brought him to the Chase Space, bustling with people but blessedly free of any actual Chases.

Blitz shot him a suspicious look as he came into the kitchen, but kept silent as he went to the sink and started washing dishes. It gave him something to focus on. Something steady and dull and mindless.

When he was out of dishes to wash, Blitz said, "Long day?"

"No," Alex said. "Just normal."

"Sometimes that's worse," Blitz said. "It's a lot easier when something's gone wrong, or on fire. Then you have something to fix. Or something to put out."

"Yeah," Alex said, putting away the plates.

"If you’re bored, I had some ideas," Blitz said, his hands drawing a schematic in the air. "For--well, it's kind of a chain mail variation, I guess. Maybe we could--"

Alex shut the cupboard door. "How do you deal with it?"

Blitz put his hands down, blinked, took a breath. "Deal with...?"

"Look, you grew up--you were the weird dwarf who wanted to make clothes, right? How do you deal with--this? With people who just--" He waved his hand fruitlessly in the air. "It was easier when it was my grandfather. That's family. Those are the people who're supposed to have your back. But--but then you get friends, and people who care about you, and--"

 _He loves me and I don't know what to do,_ he wanted to say, but that choked in his throat.

"Well," Blitz said, very carefully, "the advantage of being a guest of Hotel Valhalla is that you have...more time than most humans."

"That's not really an answer."

"The best way to learn how to do it is time," Blitz said. "That's all. Hearth and I...we both grew up where we didn’t belong. Even Magnus, when we first met him, he’d--lost everything. But...it gets easier. With some patience. And when you let yourself believe there really are people around you you can trust."

"Everyone around me is well-adjusted," Alex said bitterly.

Blitz put an arm around his shoulders (though Alex noted he did it carefully, making sure the touch was welcome). "We'll always have Hearth, Alex."

"You jerk," Alex said, but he laughed, too.

 

**

 

"You missed knitting to the death," Magnus told Alex when she dropped next to him at dinner. "You would've liked what we learned to do with circular needles. Though you probably already have the idea..."

"I'll have to catch up next week," she said. "No falafel tonight?"

He shrugged. "Thought I'd branch out." He held up his fork. "Want some?"

"Is that chicken with mole sauce?"

He nodded.

"Sure," she said, and grabbed the fork from his hand. It wasn't bad. Not as good as the place near Fenway she used to like, but Valhalla was still pretty far north of the equator for that kind of food. They did their best. "Next time we go out, I can show you where the good street vendors are."

"Sure," he said. "I'd like that."

"Of course you would," she grumbled. But still. It wasn't a bad idea. Might be fun. She could see how much spice Magnus could take before his eyes started watering. Or maybe his whole healing thing would kick in first--

"What?" he said, suspicious.

"Just be patient and you’ll find out," she said, and winked at him. “We’ve got time.”

**Author's Note:**

> Mallory's listening to [a Joe Jackson song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bo759np9-nM) (which I stole the title from as well). It's a little after her time, but she and Jackson are about the same age, so.


End file.
